Palestinians sheltering in tents or seeking food were among at least 25 people killed by Israeli strikes and shootings in Gaza, medics have said.
Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people in southern Gaza early this morning, according to morgue records and health officials at Nasser Hospital.
The officials said the strikes targeted tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, which became home to hundreds of thousands who had fled from elsewhere in Gaza. More than half of the dead were women and children.
In northern Gaza, Israeli gunfire killed at least five people seeking aid near the Zikim crossing with Israel, where the UN and other agencies' convoys enter the enclave, health officials at the Sheikh Radwan field hospital said.
Six people were killed in other attacks on Gaza elsewhere, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to questions about the deaths.
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The strikes come a day after a UN-backed global hunger monitor announced that famine is now gripping the enclave’s largest city.
The famine determination by the world’s leading authority on food crises has galvanised governments and aid groups to intensify their pleas for Israel to halt its 22-month offensive on Gaza.
Aid groups have warned for months that the war and Israel’s restrictions of food into Gaza are causing starvation among civilians.
Israel denounced the famine declaration as lies and the military is pressing ahead with preparations to seize Gaza City.
Efforts toward a ceasefire that could forestall the offensive are on hold as mediators await Israel’s next steps.
The report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said Gaza City is gripped by famine that it is likely to spread if fighting and restrictions on humanitarian aid continue.
It was a rare pronouncement by the group, its first in the Middle East, and came after Israel imposed a two-and-a-half-month blockade on Gaza earlier this year, then eased access with a focus on a new US-backed private aid supplier, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
In response to global outrage over images of emaciated children, Israel in recent weeks has allowed airdrops and a new influx of aid entering by land, but the UN and other aid agencies say the food reaching Gaza is still not nearly enough.
Journalists have seen chaos and security problems on roads leading to aid deliveries, and there have been reports of Israeli troops firing towards people seeking aid.
Israel’s military says warning shots are fired if individuals approach the troops or pose a threat to soldiers.
The IPC said nearly half a million people in Gaza, about a quarter of the population, face catastrophic hunger that leaves many at risk of dying. It said hunger has been magnified by widespread displacement and the collapse of food production.
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denounced the IPC report as "an outright lie", and accused Hamas of starving hostages. Israel says it has allowed enough aid to enter during the war.
With ground troops already active in strategic areas, the widescale operation in Gaza City could start within days.
Aid group Doctors without Borders (MSF) has said its clinics around Gaza City are seeing high numbers of patients as people flee recent bombardments.
The group said in a statement that "strikes are forcing people, including MSF staff, to flee their homes once again, and we are seeing displacement across Gaza City″.
The Israeli military has said troops are operating on the outskirts of Gaza City and in the city’s Zeitoun area.
Accreditation: AP
